There has been a protracted debate over which goalkeeper should be first choice at Chelsea as Thibaut Courtois and Petr Cech will battle for a starting berth, but who will eventually come out on top?

Cech has been the Blues’ number one stopper since he arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2004, taking advantage on Carlo Cudicini’s injury troubles, and quickly established himself as one of Europe’s top goalkeepers. The 32-year-old has done it all with Chelsea, winning three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups, the Europa League and the Champions League, and has been virtually unchallenged for his place. Until now.

22-year-old Courtois is seen as the brightest young goalkeeper in Europe and is already an established international for the Belgium national team. Since signing for Chelsea from Genk in 2011 he’s been picking up major honours of his own during his years on loan at Atletico Madrid, including a Copa del Rey, Europa League, UEFA Super Cup and was a star for Diego Simeone’s team as they achieved La Liga glory and came within moments of winning the Champions League last season.

It’s believed that in Courtois the West London club finally has a long-term successor to Cech, only that he’s probably progressed a lot quicker than club officials would have expected and quick enough to force Jose Mourinho into a difficult dilemma. Can Courtois usurp Cech this season, and if so, how soon can he do it?

The veteran would seem to have the edge at this stage as Cech is already familiar with his back-line, the English game, his manager and has played more minutes than Courtois has during the pre-season, so you would expect that the Czech would be the man between the sticks when Chelsea line-up against Burnley at Turf Moor on Monday.

There’s no real reason for Cech to lose his place and Mourinho may be wary of throwing Courtois in at the deep end if he doesn’t have to. The Belgian was a star in Spain but hasn’t truly been tested on English soil and it may take some bedding in time, much like it did for Manchester United’s David De Gea, Courtois’ predecessor as Atletico first choice. But you would expect Courtois to win out over the course of the season as he’s the logical long-term choice and could be the club’s keeper for the next ten years at least.

If and when Courtois does establish himself as a Chelsea regular then there is an expectation that Cech will eventually seek pastures new to seek guaranteed first-team football, something which he most definitely deserves as he’s too good to be on the bench, and rumours suggest that he would not be short of suitors.